The City Market is a major attraction and destination point for downtown and is an integral part of our vibrant downtown life. It has thrived at its present 104 Street location since 2004 despite inclement weather days and has continued to expand and enhance this area.

Why move it — especially to an indoor location? An indoor location would do nothing to enhance vibrancy downtown.

I enjoy the outside atmosphere — sunshine, buskers, entertainment, patios — on a nice sunny day. Outdoor activities and events of any kind are essential to create a vibrant atmosphere anywhere. People need to walk and to explore. Moving this market indoors is putting another arrow into the heart of downtown and will be detrimental to any downtown revitalization.

Just imagine St. Albert without their outdoor farmers market every Saturday which constitutes a major draw to its downtown and continues to grow.

What was Wilson-Raybould’s endgame?

Someone was finally brave enough to put the SNC-Lavalin affair in its proper light. The drama that unfolded over the last few weeks had Canadians emotionally involved right across the country.

So much so, in fact, that many were ready to have Jody Wilson-Raybould moved immediately into the prime minister’s chair, with Jane Philpott in a supporting role, or as Andrew Cohen so potently visualized in his column, as our newest Canadian “saints.”

It is such an apt description because the reason ordinary people can become saints is that they lay down their lives for a cause deemed worthy of such a sacrifice.

We have witnessed two well-spoken, seemingly intelligent women, carry out their own hari-kari. Where did they see this going? What was their ultimate plan, if they had one?

As much as I admired their strong stand on “doing what is right,” surely there had to be a better way to proceed to get their desired results.

G.A. Teske, Sherwood Park

Attorney general shuffle was puzzling

Reading Andrew Cohen’s excellent column predicting the end of Jodi Wilson-Raybould’s and Jane Philpott’s careers as Liberals, I remain puzzled.

What did Scott Brison’s sudden departure from Trudeau’s cabinet in December have to do with Wilson-Raybould losing her “dream job” as Canada’s attorney general? Why not just leave her there and shuffle cabinet around her?

All the media coverage of the scandal seems to have left this fundamental question forgotten, unanswered.

Mark Johnson, Edmonton

What new misdeeds are Liberals hiding?

Since Prime Minister Trudeau refuses to allow Ms. Wilson-Raybould to appear before the justice committee and speak about what happened after she was removed from the attorney general’s post, we can only assume that something more egregious than what we have already heard has taken place.

It’s very disappointing that the government and the justice committee would seek to cover this up. And I can’t help but think that the OECD cares too.

Terry James, Vegreville

Kenney should repeal income-tax changes

The Jason Kenney I knew in 1995 (when he led the Canadian Taxpayers Federation) would have slammed the current UCP-leader version of himself for announcing plans to ignore his own party policy and instead retain the odious, envy-based NDP personal-income-tax regime.

Just as Nötley Crüe’s Bill 2 in 2015 spiked the top marginal personal income tax rate for Albertans by an eye-popping 50 per cent, the UCP government’s Bill 2 this summer (after Bill 1, the Carbon Tax Repeal Act) should repeal the NDP income tax hikes forthwith. Restoring the 10-per-cent single-rate tax on personal income (with, say, a $20,000 basic personal exemption) would incentivize productivity, help create jobs and leave more money in the pockets of those who actually earn it.

It would be welcome tax relief for all Albertans (rather than just corporations) who pay provincial income tax. The NDP claims that lowering tax rates would reduce cash flow to public coffers, but even Kenney recently noted, “They raised personal income taxes and business taxes in the last three years and revenues have come down. Why? Because those tax increases have suppressed economic growth.”

Kenney’s tax cuts will leave services short

David Staples claims that the UCP proposal to cut corporate taxes is not radical because the combined federal and Alberta tax would still be three percent below Sweden’s rate.

But you cannot unbundle one tax from the total picture. In Sweden, there is a sales tax of 25 per cent on items covered by our GST and 12 per cent on many items untaxed in Canada.

The maximum income tax is 70 per cent and kicks in at $98,000 of income. The carbon tax is almost five times the Alberta rate. Sweden’s health, education, and social spending per capita vastly exceed what Albertans receive.

Jason Kenney’s proposal of flat income taxes, no carbon tax, and much reduced corporate taxes would leave almost no money to fund education and health services. That is radical — and irresponsible.

Alvin Finkel, Edmonton

Corporate tax cuts rarely trickle down

Consumer demand drives economic growth, not corporate tax cuts. If the UCP were serious about job creation, their 33-per-cent tax reduction for billion-dollar corporations and millionaires would go to the middle class, who would immediately inject their tax savings back into our economy.

Instead, the UCP has repackaged the tired and thoroughly debunked theory of trickle-down economics into something they call the Job Creation Tax Cut, but the results are the same. Billions will be transferred from public coffers into the hands of the wealthy at the expense of infrastructure development and public services like education and health care.

Famed economist John Kenneth Galbraith said of trickle-down economics, “If you feed enough oats to the horse, some will pass through to feed the sparrows.” The question facing Albertans is whether or not the sparrows will swallow what the UCP is trying to feed them.

D.P. Dufresne, Edmonton

How much carbon did the tax remove?

The carbon tax has collected in excess of $2 billion from hard-working Albertans since its inception. I truly care about the environment and agree that we must reduce our carbon footprint but there must be an accounting of our progress.

What I see from our investment of $2 billion thus far is a redistribution of wealth of $450 million, tax cuts to small businesses of $220 million and the staggering balance distributed by various government ministries as they see fit.

The $2-billion question should be: “How much carbon did we actually remove from the atmosphere as a direct result of these ridiculous expenditures?”

What is our return on investment? I’m not looking for an estimate/projections or scientific or political doublespeak, just a hard factual number. If the number is anywhere near what I think it is, maybe it’s time to move on and find another way to finance political campaigns and questionable infrastructure projects.

Darrell Balaski, Sherwood Park

Rescinding NDP policies isn’t a plan

To date, almost all Jason Kenney’s pre-election announcements relate to undoing whatever the present government has put in place. Much like Donald Trump has worked to overturn all of Barack Obama’s initiatives, regardless of merit. Perhaps we should nickname Mr. Kenney “Krump.”

The UCP leader has no positive new initiatives outlined, and no indications on how he plans to proceed if he is able to cancel much of the NDP’s well-researched, thought-through work.

This is like Klein blowing up a Calgary hospital without understanding cost implications or how the health system will adapt. Or Kenney abandoning the in-process lab facility in Edmonton.

Many conservatives in Alberta must be wishing for a more progressive approach. This right-wing political ideology is simply negative, and it is hard to see how average Albertans will benefit.

Joan Laurie, Spruce Grove

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